Pornstar Character Likeness

[hornyguy247]

Hi guys,

Been playing these types of games for a while now and looking to take a shot at starting my own next year once I finish uni in January. I've got what I believe are four very decent stories and plot lines worked out. They would each be their own game but set in the same universe with some overlapping fringe characters. I would be planning to finish the first one before moving onto any others. They will be your typical renpy game with choices effecting the story path that you take and eventually multiple endings.

Artwork would be using Daz3D models. A question that I have regarding the artwork is in regards to one of the stories and the characters that will feature. Without giving too much away, the story will heavily feature the porn industry with characters based on real life porn stars from the mid 00s era. My question is to what degree do you think I would need to alter their likeness to avoid any issues. My plan was to alter their name but where their fans would know quite clearly who it is supposed to resemble. Or is this an avenue I should try to avoid completely? Anybody have any experience with hassle because their characters resemble real life personalities?

Thanks

B

 

[anne O'nymous]

[...] with characters based on real life porn stars from the mid 00s era. My question is to what degree do you think I would need to alter their likeness to avoid any issues.

I'm not a lawyer, but legally speaking, it's a grey area. There isn't really a line to not cross between a tribute and the use of the person image. At one point it become too realistically "this person" to be just a tribute, that's all.

My plan was to alter their name but where their fans would know quite clearly who it is supposed to resemble.

And how many people do you think it represent ? Proportionally speaking, there isn't this much fans of porn stars, and unlike late 10's ones, who can be recognized by their tattoos, 00's porn stars are just "anonymous women". Of course, you can possibly recognize their face or their body, and some have a physical particularity unique enough to make them stand out. But I'm sure that 90% of those who fapped over their movies, the reaction would just be "oh, I've already seen this girl, but I have no clue who she can be".
Plus, when you really become fan of a porn star, it's because of her body type, not because of her acting performances. This mean that, with some exceptions, someone who could recognize every petite porn actresses from the 00's wouldn't have a single clue regarding who can be this big boobed one. You would find thousands of peoples who would recognize Ron Jeremy, but only few hundreds could recognize "this" porn actress.

 

[hornyguy247]

Fair points. I guess on the off chance somebody discovered their likeness had been recreated in the game it would be difficult for anybody to argue damages from using their appearance from c. 15 years ago.

FYI - one of the reasons I prefer that era of porn is because of the significantly lower prevelance of tattoos and the more stereotypical internet pornstar looks vs the more generic "onlyfans" look of today's era. I can see the latter in every day life including at work...the former not so much. Just my taste though.

 

[Piter Georg]

Get help from Porno industry analysts. Today's world is like a pornographic scene but more boring, Old Vintage/Retro porn was like a real movie and now it's like rape. I remember actresses from the 70's, 80's, 90's ( Color Climax, Silwa Magazine, Hustler and etc.) until today as the most liked and painted models are the actresses and actors from the 90's. Do things the way you want and don't be fooled by the likes.

 

[OhWee]

Your other issue will be finding models that resemble any porn stars. I usually end up making my own...

The guy at the left isn't too far off, the gal at the left is the same Daz3D.com model that was used in the Dreams of Desire game (Akasha), the other two aren't very close. Using Daz Studio here of course.

You can use Facegen or similar programs to attempt to 'interpret' likeknesses onto a 3D model, but these generally aren't spot on/in uncanny valley territory if you are lucky. But in this case that may play to your favor. If it looks fairly close to a certain person, but has differences, you can invoke the person without actually say it's that person. Creative changes to the name can help here.

There's a thread over at Daz3D.com where celebrity lookalikes are being tracked, almost none of those are from the porn world though:

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There is one particular game around here where a Megan Fox lookalike was repurposed as a sexy mom.

Also, for me, the most memorable porn is from the 70s and 80s, that's where a lot of memorable names come from. Also, you had a bit more crossover from Penthouse Magazine and Porn back then I think. This still happens, but a lot less people pay attention to magazines these days, because, you know, the internet and Google. But of course, whatever era of porn videos you are the most familiar with is where your comfort zone is.

So, in short, since it's a bitch to try to accurately recreate people anyways in 3D, I say go for fairly close likenesses and change the names enough so that people in the know have an idea of who you are making the nod to, without actually using their name. Think of all of those Star Trek porn parody videos, as well as superhero parodies, etc...

If you are going to do one of those games though that uses existing photos and video of actual porn stars, that's another can of worms entirely, and is very much in 'infringement' territory.

Also note all of those other 3d cartoon and game parodies of say Frozen, Grand Theft Auto, etc.. Once the Mouse House or similar huge studio 'notices' you, expect an avalanche of DMCA takedowns, particularly if you are crowdfunding your efforts. But once it's on the internet, the dark side of the internet will immortalize your work forever probably... you just won't be making any money off of it.

One other note. The more obscure the platform that you use for your funding/marketing, the less likely you'll get noticed anyways in the first place. Subscibestar or itch.io, probably no one really cares, Steam however...

So in short, use somewhat close likenesses and change up the names if you want a little more breathing room/want to stay in 'parody' territory. I.E. Captain Shatty instead of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spunk instead of Mr. Spock as a couple of silly examples... or Long Schlong Silver (Long Dong only did a small handful movies anyways...).

My two cents anyways!

 

[anne O'nymous]

The guy at the left isn't too far off, [...]

It's one that you can't really fail. Is there another porn actor that Ron who's short, on the chubby side and wear a mustache ? The mustache wouldn't be enough, it was frequent in the 70's/80's, but I'm sure that whatever model you would use, the combination of the three would have suffice.
And I think that the main key is here. Find what define the most the person, even if it's not purely physical, and the players will think about it by himself.

 

[OhWee]

It's one that you can't really fail. Is there another porn actor that Ron who's short, on the chubby side and wear a mustache ? The mustache would be enough, it was frequent in the 70's/80's, but I'm sure that whatever model you would use, the combination of the three would have suffice.
And I think that the main key is here. Find what define the most the person, even if it's not purely physical, and the players will think about it by himself.

Don't forget the iconic sideburns!

I used Archibald for Ollie 8 as a starting point if anyone cares, but if you want a younger version you may need to look elsewhere. Also Ron did porn for a very long time, into the 2010s I think so he fits in a number of generations of porn...

 

[anne O'nymous]

Don't forget the iconic sideburns!

Oops, of course.

Also Ron did porn for a very long time, into the 2010s I think so he fits in a number of generations of porn...

Not sure that he effectively did porn in the 10's, but he stayed in the business as a visible presence. And when you're an iconic figure like him, it help being known and remembered, even by those who never saw him perform. It's where you see that what make you really memorable in the porn industry isn't the size of your dick (boobs/ass for girls), but how different your physic is. I mean, I've seen more movies with Rocco, but I doubt that I would recognize him on a photography. This while I've seen only two movies with Ron, and I can recognize him anywhere ; well, the fact that one was for long my wife favorite movie and that we saw him way more than once can possibly help a little.

 

[OhWee]

Ron's IAFD...

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Looks like he was just doing nonsex cameos after 2010. Over 2500 entries though!

 

[Youpm]

magnus1781 at DeviantArt has Megan Mallone and Elsa Jean G8 head morphs. Also, KrashWerk's Olena for G8 at Renderosity is Alexa Flexy, and Vicey3D has some there as well; Latifa is Mia Khalifa and Bella is Abella Danger.

Have Fun!